It's been several weeks since my father abandoned me here. I thought having had a loving family in my first life would affect me so deeply as it has. Even thinking back to the day he left still hurt. I didn't understand why he left, maybe I'd get answers when I'm older but until then there's no sense in stressing myself about it. And even though Omen was originally part of the curator that brought me here he was now a part of this world and he missed his mother and his siblings and sharing emotions made us both feel twice the sadness.
My aunt and uncle, even my grandmother tried to keep smiles on their faces around me but I could see this situation affected them too. I'd noticed Samuel had tattoos similar to Rayleigh, though only one was the same color, the other four were indigo, light blue-grey, and ice blue. I'd even found out Aunt Ash had a familiar as well, a rare blue feathered phoenix named Orion whom I met a few times in between the missions she sends him out on.
They had a room prepared for me the day after he'd left me here. The walls were the same paper walls lined with the same dark wooden floor throughout the house. A large round pale pink carpet that was as soft as clouds in the center of the room. A large dark wood crib in the right corner of the room with a pale pink glass mobile of flowers hanging from the ceiling over it. A dark wood changing station in the center against the back wall and a dark wood toy chest with roses painted on the lid opposite the wall of my crib. It was pretty bare but at least it had the basics much like my room on the ship.
I'd forced myself to focus on learning to walk and talk. My talking was getting there but long sentences and extensive vocabulary still eluded me. My walking on the other hand was a lot better and I walked whenever I could. Aunt Ash had even started teaching me the alphabet, thank god. At least numbers were the same and since I was great at math I thankfully had a leg up on that. My door opening shook me from my reverie and I looked up to my aunt.
She came in with a big smile on her face, "Ready to go shopping?" She asked. Usually she went shopping for herself but I take it this was a shopping trip for me and not her. I nodded and she scooped me up from where I was sitting on the carpet. "Omen, do you mind staying here? It'll be hard to watch you both in town." She asked. He huffed but laid down on a large fluffy white pillow that he had claimed as his bed that was tucked right next to my crib and swiftly fell asleep. "I'll take that as a yes." She chuckled and headed out of my room.
She strapped me into one of those front facing baby carriers that parents wear, the ones that wrap around the parent's torso and secured the baby to the front of them. I felt like a baby kangaroo in this thing and started giggling to myself. She grabbed a worn looking broom from the closet by the front door and once we got outside and off the porch she mounted it and took off gently. She flew slow and I was awestruck at the view.
We flew by the top of the pagoda and I realized the weather vein at the top was an intricately carved silver symbol of what looked like a celtic knot, it looked like the tree of life and was very intricately interwoven with the etherian language carved along the loops and whirls. It was a beautiful masterpiece and must've taken whoever made it months to perfect it.
"That is your family crest." Aunt Ash said, catching me staring at it. "Your ancestor made that. They placed it upon this pagoda to symbolize that it was the Silvers Clan's temple and that if you seek protection or help you'll always be given a hand but if you seek to harm or hold hatred in your heart you'll only find death." She said ominously.
"Scary." I mumbled to her, my voice small compared to hers and she chuckled.
"It's an old legend, sweetheart." She assured me and flew onward towards District 8. She flew gracefully through the buildings, the smell of the flowers wafting around gently in the breeze. She slowly came to a stop in front of one of the buildings I saw yesterday. If I wasn't mistaken it was the one that had the baby shop on one of the floors. She slowly drifted to the ground and I'd realized how high we really were as we kept passing floors on our descent. I even saw the baby floor from yesterday.
We finally reached the ground and she quickly dismounted and walked into the store. Heading straight in this first floor looked like an average clothing store. Though, some of the styles were definitely not from my previous world. It was definitely a women's store and they had sections for different resistances, such as fire or ice resistant to even waterproof clothing. One section was even simply name combat clothing.
'I can't wait till I get older and come in here.' I thought absently as she headed to what looked like a clear glass elevator. She clicked the button to go up and I watched as a thick silver platform that glowed with a blue hue descended and halted once it reached the bottom of the shaft. The doors opened and she stepped onto the platform, hitting the number for the baby store. The platform took off rather gently and before I knew it, it stopped at the floor she wanted and the doors opened.
She stepped off the platform and my eyes practically bulged out of their sockets with the amount of pink in this store. 'I guess even in this world they shower baby girls in pink.' I sweatdropped.
"Now, what are we going to pick out for you, Bo Bo?" Aunt Ash asked as she browsed through the aisles.
After what felt like hours of rummaging through shelf after shelf of clothes my aunt was finally satisfied with the selections the two of us had made and headed to the register to pay. "Have these sent to my residence, please." She told the lady at the register who nodded, a kind smile on the girls face. "Thank you." Aunt Ash smiled gently and headed for the elevator."Now, since we're here what would you like to see?" She asked.
"Books!" I cheered, throwing my arms up excitedly. She chuckled at me but nodded in agreement.
"I've got the perfect place, my dear." She grabbed my little hands in hers and I gripped two of her fingers. She shook my hands, making my fat little arms jiggle and making me giggle uncontrollably. She walked out the building, grabbing her broom as she left and started down the sidewalk. While she walked I decided to people watch, to see who else made it into this world.
I recognised right away a familiar blond haired teenager, probably barely thirteen or fourteen, in an orange short sleeved shirt with a unique red swirl patch on the shoulder. He turned around when a familiar fiery redhead ran past Aunt Ash and I, a big smile on his face. 'Awe, young love.' I thought with a giddy smile on my face. 'Ooh, that means characters from Naruto are here, too. I hope the Uchiha massacre doesn't happen in this world.' I scrunched my brow in thought. Aunt Ash walked past the lovey-dovey couple and headed for a building with older looking bricks.
A set of silver haired kids and their silver haired mother with a silver haired baby in her arms made my eyes widen. 'That's Acier Silva.' I'd recognise the wild silver hair of those kids anywhere.
"Ace!" Aunt Ash yelled out and rushed up to her, holding me tighter as she speed-walked up to the mother of three.
'Oh shit, she actually knows them!' I blinked a few times, taking in the silver haired beauty. The manga did not do her justice, she's gorgeous.
"Ashling! It's been awhile, how are you? And who is this?" Acier asked, a big smile on her face as she boosted a baby Solid up higher on her chest.
"Bo." I said, a serious look on my face.
"Oh, so formal." Acier teased, chuckling lightly. "Well, I'm Acier Silva, this is Nozel, Nebra, and this here is Solid." She gestured between her then from the oldest child to the baby in her arms.
"Hi." I waved to them. Nebra rolled her eyes and Nozel just stared at me. Solid was asleep in her arms, drool running down his chin. They chatted for a while, Nozel still staring at me and Nebra pulling on her mother's sleeve every once in a while. I looked down at Nozel who stared at me blankly. I stuck my tongue out at him and his eyes widened, mouth agape in surprise. His cheeks reddened as he turned away from me.
'What's that about?' I scrunched my brow in confusion but let it go.
"Mother, can we go now? My feet hurt!" Nebra whined, pulling her mother's sleeves more erratically this time.
"Of course sweetie, sorry Ash I better get these kids home." Acier said shyly.
"We'll have to set up playdates for the kids." Aunt Ash said, squeezing Acier's hand gingerly. "I'll see you." She smiled brightly.
'God this woman's smile could stop wars.' I marveled.
"Goodbye Bo." Acier said with a small wave.
"Bye!" I waved back. Aunt Ash started walking down the sidewalk again, humming to herself. 'So, that's Black Clover and Naruto.' I checked off my mental list. Even looking around as we walk I can tell a lot are background characters from Magi, Naruto, especially One Piece. But they wore similar style clothes, modern much like Black Clover. Even Minato was wearing more modern clothes and not the traditional ninja garb he'd worn in the series, he was even wearing laced up black boots. Kushina was even wearing a too large orange t-shirt and light blue jean short shorts with orange flats. Quite the difference but this is a different world.
I was so lost in thought I hadn't realized we'd arrived at the bookstore. The building had me in awe, it looked almost like a mage tower from fantasy paintings. The grey stone lightened from sun and age with dark green ivy growing up the tower, purple morning glories splashed in here and there. Blue stained glass windows littered randomly up the tower, books piled up in them. A large dark wooden door with a sign over the threshold.
"Welcome to Weismann's Books." Aunt Ash said, gesturing to the store. She opened the door and the smell sweet, musky smell of old books wafting in my face. The rounded walls of the tower were like bookshelves themselves with a dark metal spiral staircase in the center that reached the top of the tower, books floating around and putting themselves away. Free floating half moon shaped platforms every level, slowly rotating, though higher up some were stopped in front of shelves.
'Definitely mage tower vibes in here.' I stared around the room. Some books looked ancient and some looked brand new with beautifully designed hardcovers. 'Grimoires maybe?' I wondered.
"Ashling, good to see you!" A singsong male voice said from above us. I looked up and marveled at the floating, almost glowing man with waist length silver hair and shining gray eyes.
"Weiss, good to see you too." Aunt Ash said with a kind smile.
'That's Adolf K. Weismann from K Project!' The name and face clicking in my brain finally. He landed gently on the floor in front of us, a kind look on his face. He looked young, barely mid-twenties but his eyes held a weight to them. They betrayed his age and held a sadness to them.
"And who is this little beauty?" He asked, eyeing me curiously.
"Bo." I introduced myself, making Ash chuckle lightly. "Who are you?" I asked, folding my chubby arms over my chest. Well, I attempted to, it didn't work well being in this kangaroo pocket. Weismann laughed heartily at my actions, doubling over and surprising me.
"She's so cute!" He said between chuckles. "Just call me Weiss, Little Bo." He ruffled my now shoulder length hair.
'He's a loon.' I sweatdropped at the idiot.
"So, what're you looking for?" Weiss asked after clearing his throat.
"Well, Bo wanted books so you'll have to ask her." Aunt Ash said and Weiss eyed me closely again. I shrugged.
"Show me." I pointed to a shelf on the second floor that caught my eye. Weiss hummed looking from the shelf back to me.
"May I?" Weiss asked, holding his arms out to me. I reached out to him but realized he was asking Ash not me. She nodded anyway and pulled me up and out of the kangaroo pocket and let Weiss take me from her. He held me gently and floated up to the shelf on the second floor. Floating by his magic felt different than when flying on Ash's broom. I felt weightless then I recalled in K-Project the Dresden Slate afforded him not only immortality but gravity manipulation. It's probably his magic in this world and from the look of his eyes he must have immortality as well, or longevity.
But, then again, this is a different world with different laws of physics. Or, well, laws of magic.
"Which book caught your eye?" Weiss asked me, shaking me from my thoughts. I looked through the books on the shelf I pointed out. It took me a few moments to decipher the titles, some of them looking rather interesting and some not really appealing to me. My eyes landed on a book that seemed to speak to my soul, it felt like nothing I'd ever felt before. Like a tug on my very self as I read the title. I went to grab it but Weiss grabbed and tucked it under his arm for me. "Interesting choice." He said, a glint in his eye.
"Why?" I asked, playing innocent. He just hummed and slowly floated down back to my aunt. He handed me back to her and lifted the book I picked out, fingers grazing the cover where the title was. He handed the book to my aunt and she sucked in a breath when she read the title.
"What?" I asked, looking between the two. I looked back at the book, reading the title over again; Maker's Compendium: The Hooded Lady.
"This book…" Aunt Ash trailed off, a faraway look to her eyes. "The Hooded Lady, she's your ancestor. She was the first Silvers." She finished, taking me by surprise.